


Don't Keep Me Waiting Long

by all_the_buttons



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien's a drama llama, F/M, Identity Reveal, Internal Monologue, Lots of blushing, Marinette's more like a drama alpaca, Mostly humor, Some angst, denial is not just a river in egypt, fairly typical Marichat, pretty fluffy, seriously what's the point if they're not blushing?, strangely lacking in puns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-21
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-23 16:52:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8335177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/all_the_buttons/pseuds/all_the_buttons
Summary: When Cat Noir checks up on Marinette after rescuing her from an akuma, he discovers a confident, assertive side of her he never saw before. Intrigued, he’s drawn back again and again in an effort to decipher the mystery that is his classmate. Marinette never meant to let Cat Noir in; it was safer if he kept his distance. But somehow he wormed his way into her life, and now she’s not sure of anything anymore.As their friendship grows stronger, how will our heroes react to burgeoning feelings that they never expected?





	1. In Which Curiosity Captures a Cat

**Author's Note:**

> For ono_ohyes: Thanks for reading and thinking I'm funny. Love you <3
> 
> I decided to commit to the American version for this work, so he's Cat Noir throughout.

Marinette held on tight to Cat Noir as he ran across the rooftops of Paris.

She supposed she should be grateful to him for rescuing her, especially since the akumatized man had gotten in a pretty good hit that sent her sliding across the pavement on her left arm — she must have caught his attention by going sideways towards an alley rather than just running away. Cat Noir had scooped her up seconds later. Now he was going to deposit her somewhere safely away from the fight, and then she’d have to make her way back after she transformed. Not that she wasn’t plenty fast, but time was always of the essence when it came to akuma possessions, especially violent ones like this one was. The faster they defeated it, the fewer people got hurt.

Cat Noir leapt to another roof, and Marinette gripped him tighter. Not that she didn’t trust him — she did, completely. He was holding her firmly, and she knew he wouldn’t let her fall. It was just… different being up here without her suit. If Cat’s foot slipped or he missed a jump (he did have bad luck sometimes), she wouldn’t be able to do anything but hold on and let him twist himself to take the brunt of the fall. Which he would, of course. And she couldn’t even call him stupid for it, not even to herself, because she was a civilian as far as he knew, and protecting civilians was his job.

One final leap and he was setting her down. To her surprise, he had taken her home — she was standing on her own roof. How…? _Oh, right,_ Marinette thought. _I told him my address during the Puppeteer fiasco. He was here the time Nathaneal was taken, too. Come to think of it, we were here with the zookeeper, too — I remember seeing him look at a photo of Papa and Maman and me. Still, I’m surprised he remembered._

“You’re safe now, mademoiselle,” Cat said with a sweeping bow. “Probably best to shelter inside, though, until Ladybug and I clear this up.”

Marinette forced a fangirlish giggle past her lips. “Thank you, Cat Noir! You’re my hero... again!”

“You’re right! This is, what, the third time I’ve had to rescue you? You need to stay away from akumas!”

 _Condescending prat,_ thought Marinette. _I saved his butt out of costume on that “date” with the Evillustrator. And when Chloe was Antibug, too._ She bit her tongue, though — no time for this! — and tried to dredge up another fawning look.

“Jeez, Marinette,” Cat Noir said, his teasing tone turning serious. “You’re bleeding.”

“What?” Marinette looked at her left arm, which now that she thought about it did kind of sting. Sure enough, it had been skinned pretty badly by her skid across the pavement. It was a warm day and she was wearing a sleeveless shirt, so there had been nothing between her and the ground. The scrape was oozing blood, and a few stones were stuck in the wound. “Oh. Ow.”

“You need a doctor,” Cat said, reaching for her as if to pick her up again.

“Are you kidding me right now?” Marinette snapped, drawing back. “It’s just a scrape. You, sir, are needed elsewhere. Or are you going to leave Ladybug to fight that guy alone?”

Cat stopped. He looked conflicted for a moment, but she could tell that he knew she was right.

“Go. I’ll be fine. I’ll go downstairs and clean it right now, and if it still looks bad I’ll see a doctor.”

“Promise?” Cat said.

“Promise,” Marinette replied, fingers crossed behind her back.

“You’d better,” Cat said. “Be safe, Princess.”

Marinette meant to watch Cat Noir until he was out of sight and she could safely transform. But once he was a few roofs away he turned and looked back, waiting until she descended into her room to continue on his way. She was forced to stand on the ladder and peek out until he was gone and she could transform and follow him.

* * *

It had not been a particularly challenging akuma victim, in the end. With her superhero reflexes at full power, he had never come close to touching her. Even Cat didn’t get knocked around much. They did their thing, Ladybug cleansed the akuma and sent the butterfly on its way, and Paris’s superheros took their own paths home as their Miraculouses began to beep. It was such a normal day that Marinette was completely confused when a tap came at the skylight that led to her roof.

Marinette climbed the ladder to the door, knowing that there was only one person it could be, and yet completely clueless as to why he would be here. Sure enough, when she pushed the skylight up, the first thing she saw was the glowing green eyes of her unknowing partner-in-crimefighting.

“Cat Noir? What are you doing here? Is there another akuma attack?” Even as the words left her mouth she knew it didn’t make any sense for him to come here if there was, but it was too late to stop Ladybug’s inquiry from coming out of Marinette’s mouth.

Lucky, Cat didn’t seem to notice as he put a hand out and boosted her onto the roof. “No, no, nothing like that. I just wanted to check and make sure you were okay.”

“Me?” Marinette asked, still confused. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

“Your arm?” Cat Noir said. She couldn’t actually see his eyebrows under his mask, but his tone made her think they were raised. “Remember?”

Her arm! She actually hadn’t remembered — she hadn’t been able to feel it under the suit (she suspected the transformation had painkilling properties) and the Miraculous Ladybug had healed it completely.

“Oh, r-right, my arm!” Marinette exclaimed, cursing the stutter that slipped into her voice when she was nervous. “I did kind of forget about it. It turned out not to be nearly as bad as it looked. I cleaned it up, slapped on a couple Band-Aids, and it’s basically as good as new!”

“Let me see,” Cat said. He looked like he wasn’t sure whether to believe her.

Marinette put her hand to her arm, trying to come up with a way out of this. The touch of her sleeve gave her an idea.

“Oh shoot, I really would like to but my sleeve is pretty tight and it won’t roll up that high!” she said, tugging on the long pajama sleeve covering her arm. It was actually pretty snug, but not quite as snug as she was claiming. She pretended to try to pull it up, stopping after a few inches and and giving a few fake pulls to make it look convincing.

Cat looked unconvinced. “I’d really like to be sure…”

Marinette decided it was time to deploy her emergency weapon. After all, no matter how much Cat Noir flirted and acted confident when wearing his mask, underneath she knew he was just a boy around her own age. And those, she could deal with. (Except for Adrien, of course; she was a mess around him.)

“I’m not taking off my shirt to show you my arm, Cat,” she said flatly.

Cat reacted just as she hoped he would. He backed away so fast that he bumped into the balcony railing, hands spread in front of him and waving in a negative gesture.

“No! I didn’t— I mean— I wouldn’t—” he fumbled.

“Please just take my word that my arm is fine,” Marinette said.

“I’m sorry,” Cat said sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” To Marinette’s surprise, he started fidgeting, drawing a circle with his toe.

“I know you can’t actually help being around akumas sometimes,” he said. “They show up where they show up, and I know they have a… fondness… for your class.”

 _Huh._ Marinette thought. She had noticed that, of course, and had even talked to Cat about it as Ladybug; she just hadn’t realized that Cat was aware that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was in that particular class.

“But I do worry about you,” Cat Noir said, sounding sheepish again.

“Why would you worry about _me_?” Marinette asked, genuinely confused. He barely knew her as Marinette.

Cat shrugged. She thought maybe he might be blushing a little, too. “I don’t know… you’re just so sweet and quiet and shy...” She fixed him with a glare that had him mumbling his last words as he trailed off.

“What was that?” she asked, using her best Chloe-cowing voice. “Did you just say something about a ‘delicate flower’?”

Cat looked at his feet and nodded. Marinette stuck a finger in his chest.

“You don’t know me, buddy,” she said firmly. “So don’t go thinking I need extra attention to keep from swooning in a dangerous situation. You’re right, my class is like an akuma magnet. And I’ve dealt with it plenty without your help.”

His eyes were wide, surprised, and maybe a little frightened. She sighed. She wasn’t being fair to him. It was actually very sweet that he was worried about her, if a little unexpected. She just hated being underestimated. 

“Look,” she said more gently. “I really appreciate your helping me get out of danger. And I know you’ve helped my friends before, too, and I’m more thankful than I can say for that. And I’m really touched that you’re concerned about my arm. I just… I’m not a damsel. I’m not a princess. I’m _capable_ , Cat Noir.”

He smiled. “I guess you are,” he said. “Maybe all the... pink threw me off a bit.”

“It’s all right,” Marinette said. “I do like pink a lot. But please note: girliness does not equal weakness.”

“Noted.”

There was a pause; neither of them was quite sure what to say next.

“I, um, guess I’d better be going,” Cat Noir said, several moments too late to keep it from being awkward. “Take care of your arm, okay, Pri— Marinette?”

“Sure,” she said, almost to herself, as she watched him vault off the roof and land on the next one. 

* * *

 “Well, that was strange,” Marinette said to Tikki as she climbed back down the ladder.

“Was it? How so?” her kwami replied.

“Why would Cat Noir worry about Marinette? I mean, he doesn’t know I’m Ladybug — I’m sure he doesn’t. I’ve never been akumatized, and as far as he knows I’m around fewer fights than just about anyone in my class. From his perspective, I must be exceptionally good at making myself scarce when an akuma is around. I mean, maybe he thinks I’m a coward because of it, and that’s why he was worried — like he thought I’d panic or something?”

“Do you think that was it?” Tikki asked.

Marinette shrugged. “I don’t know. Where did he get the idea I was quiet and shy? I’ve been perfectly friendly whenever I’ve interacted with him as Marinette. And _delicate flower_? _Really?_ ”

Tikki giggled. “Yeah, sure seems like he knows a different Marinette than the one the rest of us do.”

Marinette looked at Tikki curiously. There was something in the way she said that… Marinette shrugged. Cat Noir was a strange duck anyway. Who even knew what went on in that shaggy head of his? Oh well. He was gone, and she didn’t imagine that she — or Marinette, rather — would be seeing him again anytime soon.

* * *

  _Who was that even?_ Cat Noir thought as he leapt his way toward home.

The girl who had poked him in the breastbone and told him off today was not the Marinette he knew from school. That Marinette was shy, stammering whenever he spoke to her, jumping like a startled rabbit when she didn’t see him coming, and occasionally straight-up hiding from him. He had always assumed that that was just the way Marinette was.

But _this_ Marinette had been a firecracker, looking him straight in the eye and calling him out for assuming she was weak. He also suspected that the thing with the shirt was calculated to fluster him. (It had worked. His cheeks were heating up just thinking about it.)

 _Which one is the real Marinette?_ he wondered. He ran over some things in his head — moments at school when she hadn’t known he was there. He remembered bright smiles and exuberant laughter. He could remember seeing her talk animatedly to other people in the class. Of course, he’d seen her go after Chloe for bad behavior on more than one occasion, but he had always assumed she just had a bit of a temper that made her forget to be shy when the occasion arose. It tended to come out when someone needed protecting or defending.

_Huh._  


He was intrigued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note on nicknames: I actually have no issue with Cat calling Marinette "Princess." Apparently the Marinette I was writing felt differently! Her objection to it kind of followed from the conversation, and I liked what she had to say more than I like the nickname, so "Princess" is out for this one.
> 
> This chapter is a little short; the coming ones will be longer. I hope you enjoyed it!


	2. In Which Our Heroes Board a Metaphorical Dahabeah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get weird, Adrien gets a little obsessive, and Marinette feels a lot of feels that she doesn't want to be feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is my favorite chapter -- I make myself laugh a lot in this one. I hope you do too. Enjoy!

Adrien paused for a moment before he entered the classroom to peek through the glass panel in the door. He wanted to check on Marinette’s arm without her noticing — _that’s totally why, no other reason_. He remembered the blood that had dripped down her arm. It had looked pretty bad, and he was doubtful that it really could have as insignificant has she had tried to claim last night. He wasn’t sure why she would lie to him, though.

Unfortunately, the cold front that had blown in yesterday evening was still hanging around, and she was wearing long sleeves like she had been last night. However, she was talking animatedly to Alya and making fairly large arm gestures without any sign of stiffness or pain. So maybe his memory was exaggerating how bad it had been.

Marinette was laughing, a bright, pure laugh that made him smile, even muffled as it was through the door. Adrien thought he needed more laughter in his life — it was basically absent from his home life; Ladybug was usually too busy saving people to laugh much, and though his friendship with Nino was certainly adding more laughter to his world, it wasn’t quite like… well, like Marinette was laughing right now.

He was staring.

And — oh, crap — he was about to be late! He pulled the door open and sauntered into the room as if he hadn’t been spying on his classmate — classmate _s_ — like a creeper. Oh, God, was he _creepy_?

Marinette wasn’t laughing anymore. Or even smiling. She was sitting quietly in her seat, taking out her notebook and a pen.

“Hi Nino,” he said casually. “Hi, Marinette.”

She looked up at him a little too quickly, eyes wide. “Hi,” she squeaked, then turned her face back to her bag.

He was trying to think of something else to say to her when Mme Bustier called the class to order. _Oh well,_ he thought, pulling out his tablet. _She didn’t really seem interested in talking to me anyway._ He was surprised by how disappointed the thought made him feel.

As he went to turn his tablet on, he caught a glimpse of Alya’s face reflected on the surface. A slight angle shift and he was looking at Marinette.

Somehow he found himself watching her reflection all day.

* * *

 “Okay, Tikki,” Marinette asked, putting down her pencil. “Which one do you like best? The gores or the godets?” She gestured at the side-by-side drawings in her her sketchbook, identical except for variations in the skirt.

“Hmm,” the kwami said, considering. “I like how the godets flair, but there’s so much going on at the top—”

Tikki cut short and was out of sight almost before Marinette registered the tapping at the skylight.

“Seriously? _Again?_ ” she said, knowing he could probably hear her.

“What do you want?” She asked Cat Noir as she lifted the skylight.

“Can I come in? Just for a minute?”

Marinette sighed, but opened the skylight farther and descended the ladder so he could follow. Once she reached the floor, she turned to face him, arms crossed and with a carefully crafted annoyed look on her face. She was kind of weirded out by having a boy her parents didn’t know about in her room. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him; it was just… weird. She was uncomfortable, but she wasn’t about to let him see that. And of course, you couldn’t encourage Cat in any way — give him an inch and he’d take a mile.

“Don’t be mad,” Cat Noir started, wincing at the expression on her face that said she was now officially expecting him to make her mad. “I’m just worried about your arm. There was a lot of dirt in it and I really would feel better if I could make sure it’s healing okay.”

_Ha!_ thought Marinette triumphantly. She hadn’t actually expected him to come back, but she’d prepared a story just in case.

“Oh, that? You know, it’s the funniest thing,” Marinette said. “When I went to change the Band-Aids this morning, there was nothing there — it was completely gone.”

Registering the bemusement on his face, she saw that she’d have to guide him a little more.

“I think maybe Ladybug healed it. Doesn’t she do some thing that fixes damage after an akuma is defeated?” Marinette prompted.

“Of course, the Miraculous Ladybug,” Cat Noir replied, sounding doubtful. “I didn’t realize that it healed things like scrapes and bruises that weren’t caused by magic.”

“Well, I guess it does. See?” Marinette dropped the shoulder of the bathrobe she was wearing to reveal her left arm. She was wearing short-sleeved pajamas tonight, so it was easy to see the complete lack of scrape or scar on her arm.

Cat reached out and ran his fingers gently over the spot where the scrape had been as if to reassure himself that it was true. The claws on his gloves just barely touched her, sending an unexpected shiver down her spine.

He was standing very close.

She had never noticed before, in the heat of battle, but he kind of... smelled good. Like leather and vanilla and something just a bit musky.

Marinette felt her cheeks coloring and realized that her breath was coming faster than it should be. She consciously slowed it down. _It won’t do for him to get the wrong idea._

She looked up at him and found that he was staring at her. She tried not to meet his eyes, but she felt her own drawn to them like magnets. There was something in his too-green eyes that she couldn’t identify — something that made her feel smug, excited… and a little scared, but the fun kind of scared like in a haunted house or on a roller coaster. And she also felt a little guilty.

_Guilty? Why do I feel guilty?_ Marinette scanned her feelings, trying to analyze them. Was it because he was her partner, and she suddenly felt like she was lying to him by letting him think she was just some random girl? Or was it because she was feeling a sudden and unexpected attraction to a boy that she wasn’t supposed to be attracted to, who she didn’t _want_ to be attracted to, and who _wasn’t Adrien_?

Marinette was feeling overheated and overwhelmed. There was a sudden tension in the room that she had to break. She stepped away from Cat Noir, unable to keep from noticing that his body started to shift as if to follow hers before he stopped himself. He was breathing faster than he should have been, too, and was that a _blush_ delicately tinting his cheeks her favorite shade of pink?

“S-so you see,” she said, just a little too loudly, as she tugged her robe back onto her shoulder, “N-nothing to be c-concerned about. I’m all hea… healed up.”

“Oh, yeah, ha ha,” Cat Noir said, his hand on the back of his head — a nervous tic that she had noticed before. “Clearly the Miraculous La- ulp- Ladybug can do all sorts of cool stuff I don’t know about.”

_Why did he choke on the word_ ladybug _?_

“So I’m okay. Um. No need to worry about li’l ol’ me.” Marinette couldn’t believe she had said that. _Li’l ol’ me? Kill me now._

“Yeah. Of course. One Pri... I mean Marinette, completely fine. Ha ha.”

“Ha ha.”

_Oh God. Make it stop._

“Well I guess I’ll just be going now,” Cat Noir said, sounding as desperate as she felt.

“Oh yeah sure I bet you have a lot of important stuff to do tonight,” Marinette said, relief — and maybe something else that was the opposite of relief — flooding her. She followed him up the ladder awkwardly.

“Um. Good night,” Cat Noir said.

“Good night,” Marinette replied, holding her robe close around her against the night air. “Um. Thanks for stopping by.”

He turned as if to go, but then paused and looked back at her.

“Marinette? I’m really glad you’re okay,” he said in what was literally the most serious tone she had ever heard him use. It was strange, but also… familiar somehow? Before she could ponder that further, though, he had leapt to the next roof and disappeared into the night.

_What was that?_

* * *

_What was that?_ Cat Noir wondered as he made his way home.

There he was, just making absolutely, 100% sure in a _completely innocent way_ that Marinette’s injury was healing all right, and then he touched her, _just to be sure,_ and then everything got… weird.

And warm. Very warm. And maybe a little hard to breathe. Well, she was awfully high up on the third floor. Air was probably thinner up there.

_Oh, who am I kidding?_ He had been struck by a sudden, almost overwhelming desire to kiss her. He almost had. Luckily for him, Marinette had obviously been thinking clearly and had kept things from getting… weirder.

_What is wrong with me?_ he asked himself harshly. _I’m in love with Ladybug. And Marinette… well, she doesn’t like Adrien and I’m not really sure she’s all that fond of Cat Noir either._

_I guess I can’t go back there again,_ he thought sadly. Too bad. He was really intrigued by this side of Marinette he didn’t get to see as Adrien. He wanted to know her better. Just as friends, obviously. He was in love with Ladybug. The kissing thing was just some fluke. He was probably coming down with a cold or something.

_I guess I’ll just have to try harder as Adrien,_ he decided.

* * *

It wasn’t working.

Marinette just wouldn’t engage with him. He tried talking to her. She stammered and fell silent or just plain fled. He tried inviting her and Alya out to lunch with him and Nino. She agreed, but didn’t say more than ten words the whole hour, and the next time he asked she mumbled some excuse and disappeared. He suggested studying together, but there always seemed to be a scheduling conflict (that one wasn’t all her; his schedule was packed).

He didn’t know what to do.

“Dude. You’ve got it bad,” said Nino over his shoulder. Adrien jumped. He had been watching Marinette discuss a book series with Alya, Rose, and Juleka, peeking around a corner so she wouldn’t see him and shut down.

“I do not!” Adrien said, wincing at how childish he sounded.

“Do you think I haven’t noticed you staring at Marinette? You’ve been at it for days now. I mean, I get it, I’ve been there, but this is getting a little ridiculous.”

“No! It’s not like that!” Adrien said, fighting to keep from crossing his fingers because it _actually wasn’t like that._

“Oh, really,” Nino said, his voice clearly communicating that he wasn’t buying it for a second.

“Really!” Adrien insisted. “It’s just… have you ever noticed that she acts different when I’m around?”

“Does she?” his friend asked in a suspiciously neutral tone that Adrien, intent on defending his own honor, completely missed.

“Yeah! She’s… quiet. And kind of clumsy and stutters a lot. And I just recently noticed that _she’s not like that when I’m not around_.”

“So, this is, like… detective work you’re doing here?” Nino said, smirking.

“Exactly! I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on with her. But she can’t see me doing it, because then she’ll get all quiet.”

“Okay, dude,” Nino said, pulling out his phone. “Whatever you say.”

Adrien glanced over. Looked like he was texting Alya. _Great!_ Apparently he had been convincing. Which was easy, of course, because he had told his best friend the _absolute truth._

Now, what was he going to do about Marinette?

* * *

“What are you going to do about this, Marinette?” asked Tikki. “This” was the fact that Marinette had been trying to work on some designs, but kept losing focus and doodling cats in her sketchbook instead. Small, adorable black cats. And no matter how hard she scribbled them out once she noticed, their not-actually-green eyes still seemed to stare at her accusingly from the page.

“Do about what?” Marinette asked without a lot of faith that it would work. Tikki just looked at her.

“Ugh!” said Marinette, folding her arms on her desk and dropping her head onto them. “I don’t want to do anything! I love Adrien! It’s just… I don’t know, he smelled good and my hormones went a little wonky. But that’s all it was.”

“Are you sure, Marinette? Because you’re doodling him,” Tikki said gently.

“I’m not! I’m doodling cute little cartoon cats, not tall boys in leather catsuits…” Marinette trailed off, her cheeks heating up at the thought of all the leather.

“Okay,” said Tikki, clearly not seeing the difference but unwilling to fight about it. “But what are you going to do if he comes back?”

“He won’t come back. It’s been three days,” Marinette said, refusing to examine her emotions in response to that fact.

_Tap tap tap._

She just barely managed not to fall off her chair. She turned to look at Tikki, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Coincidence,” the kwami said, shrugging. Then, with a giggle, she zoomed into the lowest desk drawer, which Marinette had made into a snug little hiding place outfitted with cushions and cookies.

Marinette took a moment to straighten her pajamas (entirely by chance, they happened to be her cutest pair), then climbed the ladder. She lifted the skylight and had to catch herself before she jumped backward, because Cat Noir was lying on his stomach with his cheek flat against the roof. As in, his face was inches from hers.

“Hi,” he said hesitantly.

“Hi,” she replied. There was an awkward pause.

“Could… um, could I come in for a minute?” Cat asked, sounding very unsure.

“Um. Okay,” Marinette said. _All I have to do is make sure I don’t get close enough to smell him and I’ll be fine._ She retreated down the ladder and to the far side of the room. He clearly had the same idea, as he stopped at the bottom of the ladder.

“Um... I wanted to say I’m sorry for the other night,” Cat said, hand behind his head again. “I think things got… weird, and I didn’t… I wasn’t… I mean, I feel like maybe I came across as kind of creepy and I didn’t… plan to… like that… I mean, I didn’t come here to...”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Marinette cut it, taking pity on him. “I know you didn’t come here to… um. It was just a thing. That happened. Nobody’s fault.”

Cat smiled, looking relieved. “Maybe we could… just forget about it?”

“Forgotten!” she agreed, very carefully not allowing her eyes to glance toward the trash can stuffed full of crumpled-up doodles of scribbled-out cats.

“Me too!” he said. Marinette waited for him to, well, leave, but he just stood there, fidgeting.

“Was… is there something else?” She asked.

“Um. Yes,” he said, looking monumentally uncomfortable. “Um, I know this is kind of strange, but, um, you seem like a pretty awesome person, and, um, I was wondering if maybe we could hang out a little? Like friends, I mean. Not anything… weird.” He finished lamely.

_Cat wants to hang out? With me? Like Marinette me? That’s… unexpected._

“I… okay, I have to ask,” Marinette said, “why are you asking me this as Cat Noir when you could, you know, get to know me… out of costume? You know where I go to school. You could just… introduce yourself. I mean, I wouldn’t know it was you, but...”

Cat’s eyes drifted up and to the left for a moment before he answered. “Honestly, I’m worried it would compromise my secret identity. I’ve spoken to you more as Cat Noir than I have to anybody except Ladybug…”

Marinette struggled, but managed to keep the giggle from escaping.

“...and I’m afraid if I… got to know you in my civilian persona, I’d accidentally give something away that would reveal my secret. And I’m sure you’re very trustworthy, Marinette…”

_You have no idea, kitty._

“...but it would put you at risk, and I couldn’t stand that.”

“That makes sense,” Marinette said. He had a good point — she was constantly terrified that she would slip up and reveal everything to Alya. And frankly, it was the number one reason that she should absolutely not get any closer to Cat Noir as Marinette than she already had. Well. Maybe the number two reason. Probably how _good_ he smelled should be number one.

“Okay. We can hang out.”

_Who said that?_

_Crap. It was me._

_And now I’m blushing. Fantastic._

“Great!” Cat said. He was grinning — a grin that was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. She had seen a mischievous grin on Cat’s face a hundred times, but there was always an over-the-top element to them that had made it easy to dismiss him. This grin was more… _sincere_ than she was used to, and it made her nervous. Kind of jumpy about the abdomen.

“Can I treat you to coffee?” he asked. “Like friend coffee. Not date coffee.”

_I got it, Cat,_ she thought, feeling strangely out of sorts.

Out loud, she said, “You… want to take me out to coffee? In public? While wearing your mask and leather catsuit?”

“Well, no,” he said with a chuckle. “Not in public. Will you come to the roof with me?”

“Are we going somewhere? Because I have to tell you, the whole running and jumping over the roofs isn’t really my favorite thing.” _It’s not a lie. I really don’t like doing it when I’m Marinette — that is, not in control of it myself._

“Nope,” Cat assured her. Curious, Marinette followed him up the ladder.

Clearly, Cat Noir had been here for a while before tapping on the skylight. There were two small chairs set up next to her little table. The table sported a tablecloth and was set with two wide coffee cups and saucers, a sugar bowl, a dish with little half-and-half cups, two spoons, a tealight holder with the candle already lit, and a little vase with two yellow daisies.

“You were pretty confident,” Marinette said, eyeing the table.

“Hopeful,” Cat corrected, a surprising shyness to his tone.

“Not a date?” she asked as she sat down, tapping the candle holder with her nail.

“It’s dark!” Cat said defensively. “I can actually see in the dark, but I thought it would be rude to make you depend entirely on ambient light.” They were, of course, in Paris, the City of Lights, so the ambient light was more than sufficient. But it was still a nice thought.

“And the flowers?” Marinette asked, teasing him now.

“Those are for ambiance! And I’m taking them home, thank you very much, so don’t get any ideas!”

Marinette smiled at him as he pulled a thermos from somewhere and filled her cup with steaming coffee. “So. Getting to know each other.”

“Yeah,” Cat said, filling his own cup and adding two spoonfuls of sugar. “So, um, tell me all your hopes and dreams.”

“ _All_ of them? That’s a little personal, don’t you think?”

“Is it?” asked Cat. “I’m sorry!”

“Relax, Cat,” Marinette said. “I’m teasing.”

Cat’s shoulders visibly relaxed. He added another spoonful of sugar to his coffee.

“I want to be a fashion designer,” she told him. “That’s really the big one.” _Which it basically is. It’s not like I’m going to tell Cat Noir about_ Adrien, _after all._

“Neat!” he said. “You’re— I mean, are you any good?”

“I don’t know,” Marinette said, blushing and looking down. “I won a contest at school for a design I did. Gabriel Agreste was the judge.”

“Who’s Gabriel Agreste?”

“Not a big fashion guy then?” she teased. Cat shook his head no, though she wasn’t sure why he was smirking as he added more sugar to his coffee. “He’s a pretty famous fashion designer, so it was kind of a big deal. I don’t know how good I am, but I’m going to keep working to get better all the time.”

_Unless stupid cat doodles get in the way. Which they won’t. Because we’ve already forgotten the whole thing._

“I’m sure you’re wonderful,” Cat said. He was just being supportive, of course — how would he know? — but she thought it was sweet. And because she did, she decided to change the subject.

“How about your hopes and dreams?” she said, sipping her coffee.

“What about them?” he asked, stirring a final spoonful of sugar into his cup of now vaguely coffee-flavored sugar water.

“I told you mine; now you tell me yours,” Marinette said.

“Um. I’m not sure how to do that without telling you too much about who I am when I’m not wearing the mask.” Cat looked mortified. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Marinette said. It was kind of cute that he felt bad about not being able to answer. _Not_ that _cute, though._ “I understand.” Boy howdy, did she understand. “I’ll just have to think of something else to ask you.”

She pondered for a moment. Finally she leaned forward and placed her chin in her hand, fixing him with an intense stare.

“Tell me something about yourself that you’ve never told anyone before.”

He barely hesitated.

“I’m Cat Noir,” he said.

Marinette blinked at him, then burst out laughing. She flung herself back in her chair so hard that it almost tipped. She laughed so hard that her eyes started to water.

“That…” she gasped, “That was the _best answer_ , Cat.”

* * *

The sound of Marinette’s laughter was still ringing in Adrien’s ears two hours later. It echoed in his chest like an explosion of sunshine and glitter and rainbows. And it was because of him! He, Adrien — in disguise as Cat Noir — had been the one to make her laugh like that. He was so pleased with himself that he wished he really could purr. His cheeks were glowing with the memory.

He never could make Ladybug laugh like that. He was always trying, but he only saw her when an akuma had possessed someone and Paris was in danger. She was always a little too focused on that to really appreciate his humor… or laugh a really good, deep belly laugh at one of his jokes. He didn’t mind, not really, because protecting Paris was an important job… but it had felt really good to have Marinette react the way he always hoped Ladybug would.

_Tonight went so well,_ he thought, flopping across his bed on his back, a smile on his face that definitely wasn’t goofy at all. It had been touch and go there at the beginning, but he had really pulled it together. She had totally bought his explanation as to why he couldn’t get to know her out of costume — it wasn’t really a lie anyway. Though the major reason he had to get to know her as Cat Noir was that she wouldn’t talk to Adrien, there _was_ a risk of her figuring stuff out if he let something slip. He was learning quickly that Marinette was _very_ clever.

Heck, he had barely kept from making a fatal mistake this very night, when he almost told her what a good designer she was. He didn’t think she had noticed the false start to the sentence. And he had been super smooth when he had pretended not to know who his own father was. He hadn’t even let out the slightest sign of a giggle.

Adrien sighed happily, hugging a pillow. Marinette really was amazing. He was so lucky to have this second chance to be her friend.

“Your friend Nino is right,” Plagg said, floating into view with a piece of Camembert in his paws. “You’ve got it SO bad.”

“Don’t you start that with me, too,” huffed Adrien, setting aside the pillow. “I love _Ladybug_. I just want to be Marinette’s friend.”

“Her friend who sneaks into her room in the middle of the night?” Plagg snickered.

“Well, she won’t talk to Adrien!” the boy said defensively.

“Tell me this,” said Plagg. “How do you feel when you’re around her?”

“Happy!” Adrien said. “And warm. Just like you’re supposed to around friends.”

“How does your stomach feel?” Plagg asked.

“Oh, Plagg,” Adrien scoffed, “you’re always thinking about food.”

“Around Marinette!” the kwami was not about to let him get away with avoiding the question.

“Hm… kind of jumpy, I guess.” Adrien answered thoughtfully. “But that’s just because things got weird last time and I was worried I ruined my chance to be her friend again.”

_Calm down, boyo,_ he told himself. _You’re sounding a little defensive there. Which there is no reason to be._

“And how about your head? You think straight when she’s around?” Plagg challenged him.

“No… not exactly,” Adrien admitted. “But that’s because I’m still having trouble reconciling the Marinette from school with the Marinette who’s Cat’s friend. That’s all.”

“Kid, you are hopeless,” Plagg said and flew off to find another piece of cheese.

“Whatever,” said Adrien, perfectly secure in his unwavering love for Ladybug and totally platonic friendship with Marinette. He rolled over and turned off the light. He had stayed up too late already. He was almost asleep when Plagg spoke in his ear.

“What are you thinking about right now?”

“I need a real mirror,” mumbled Adrien. “Tablet’s not good enough.”

He fell asleep, smiling, as Plagg sat on his arm and laughed.

* * *

Marinette rolled over in bed impatiently, burying her face in her pillow. She was having a terrible time getting to sleep after Cat’s visit.

She was not having any hormone problems in the slightest. Well, her knuckles still tingled a little from where he had gallantly kissed them before he left, but that was the only time he had touched her, or even gotten close to her, all night. No, Marinette was mad for a different reason.

She was having _feelings._ About her stupid partner.

Marinette would never hesitate to admit that she, as Ladybug, cared deeply for her crime-fighting partner. Cat Noir was the perfect match to Ladybug. He was clever and fast, always happy to follow her lead. He cared about the people of Paris and put them first. And he always put himself on the line for her safety. She actually kind of hated that, but she understood it too — Cat Noir couldn’t purify akuma or cast the Miraculous Ladybug world-healing wave; it was vital that if only one of them made it to the end of the fight, it was Ladybug. So she let him do it, and never yelled at him, as much as she wanted to sometimes. It scared her when he was hurt or lost or turned against her, every time. She didn’t know what she’d do if she didn’t have him for backup and support. She had never told anyone, least of all Cat himself, but she was terrified that she couldn’t actually _be_ Ladybug if she lost him.

That said, though, her relationship with Cat Noir was strangely shallow. As deeply as she cared for and needed him, they really only saw each other in short spurts when an akumatized person was attacking Paris. Once the solution was found, their Miraculouses beeped and they parted to maintain their secret identities. Up until very recently, all she knew of Cat Noir’s actual personality was his over-the-top flirtiness and jokiness. And though she cared for — even loved — the hidden pieces of him that showed in the way he fought for and defended Paris, its people, and her, Ladybug found his public persona to be, well, a little too much most of the time.

But the Cat Noir who she was getting to know now, as Marinette, was different. It was like he had turned down his essential Cat Noirness down to maybe a nice steady five. With Marinette his ridiculous flirtiness had turned to charm, and his jokiness was actually funny. And the kindness she had always known was there actually showed.

She _liked_ him. A lot.

Marinette tried to punch her pillow, but missed and hit her cat-shaped bolster in the face instead. Guiltily, she stroked the spot she had punched.

She didn’t _want_ to like Cat Noir a lot. She had actively been _trying_ not to like him too much for months. It wasn’t a good idea to be too attached to your partner — that’s when you made stupid mistakes like saving him instead of a civilian or sacrificing yourself for his safety, leaving no way for the akuma to be cleansed and the world to be fixed.

This was _not good._

_I should stop this. I shouldn’t let him come back,_ Marinette thought. But when she remembered the look on his face when he left at the end of the night, she wasn’t sure she could. He had looked so… happy. Cat Noir smiled a lot, but there had been a _genuineness_ about his expression tonight that she didn’t know if she had ever seen before. She suddenly had a strange feeling that Cat was actually a really lonely person, and she thought maybe she had eased that for him tonight. She didn’t know if she could take that away from him.

Marinette rolled to her back, throwing her arm across her eyes. She groaned softly.

_Friends with Cat Noir. I am absolutely positive that this is a terrible idea._

_At least there’s no possibility of it turning to more than friendship. Not when I’m in love with Adrien._

_I wonder why Cat lied about knowing who Gabriel Agreste is._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who don't know: a dahabeah is a riverboat specifically used on the Nile River. 
> 
> I wrote this story in one long piece and then looked for chapter breaks afterward. Because I built in a lot of places where the first line of a section follows from the last line of the section before, it was kind of challenging, and it resulted in the chapters being all over the place in terms of length. So the first on was short, this one's long, three will be short, four will be _really_ long, and five will be kind of in-between. I hope it doesn't interfere with anyone's enjoyment of the story.


	3. In Which Adrien Strikes Out Repeatedly, But Cat Noir Does Not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and Marinette discover that denial only works for so long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Though chapter 2 is probably my favorite overall, this one has one of my very favorite scenes. 
> 
> Poor, poor children.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Hi, Marinette!” Adrien said. 

“Urk!” she said. Perhaps he should have waited until she had finished sitting down to talk to her, because she sat down crooked, missing enough of the bench that she fell to the floor with a crash. She completely ignored his apologies as she scrambled into her seat and hid her bright red face in her folded arms.

_ Strike seventeen, _ he thought sadly. Oh, well — at least his mini-mirror gave him a good clear view of her face when she finally emerged.

And the memory of her laugh was still warming him all over.

* * *

_ Tap tap tap. _

“Back again so soon?” Marinette said, lifting the skylight. “You must  _ really  _ think I’m awesome.”

To her surprise, Cat Noir didn’t respond. In fact… was he  _ blushing _ ?

“I’m just teasing, Cat,” she said. “What are we going to do tonight?”

He smiled weakly and held up a brightly decorated box. 

“I brought a board game.”

“Oh ho, looking to have your butt stomped?” Marinette said, taking it from him.

“I beg your pardon?” Cat said, sounding offended. “I’ve studied the strategy of this game extensively, so it is in fact your butt that will be stomped.” 

_ Good. That seems to have snapped him out of it.  _

“Going from the photo of the setup on the box, there’s no way that this is going to fit on the little table out here,” Marinette said. “You’d better come in.” 

* * *

“Good morning, Marinette!” Adrien called across the courtyard. Maybe avoiding the classroom would help. She turned back, smiled shyly, and waved to him.

As she did, she turned short of the door she was aiming for and walked straight into the wall.

Adrien sighed as he watched her scurry into the bathroom, face red. 

_ Strike twenty-three. _

At least he had his memory of having his butt thoroughly stomped the night before.

Which was worth it.

* * *

_ Tap tap tap. _

Marinette jumped — she hadn’t been expecting it. 

_ He said he wasn’t coming tonight! _

She moved to close her browser. A quick moment of indecision, then she took the extra thirty seconds to clear her history first. It was absolutely imperative that he  _ never _ find out what she had been doing. 

“I thought you were busy tonight,” Marinette said as she opened the skylight. 

“I got finished earlier than expected,” Cat Noir replied, “And I missed you.” He looked at her shyly. 

_ Oh no. Bad bad bad. _

“Well, I had some things I was planning to take care of tonight,” she told him. “Since you’ve been taking up so much of my spare time, I’ve fallen behind.” 

“Oh,” he said, crestfallen. “I’m sorry. I just… missed you.”

_ Damn it damn it damn it.  _

“It’s okay,” she said. Then, unable to quite stop herself, “I kind of missed you, too.” 

His eyes positively lit up.  _ The boy is so dangerous. Stay strong, Marinette.  _

“I’m glad to hear it, but you’re right — I’ve taken up too much of your time,” he said, stepping away from her. “I’ll leave to your work.” 

_ Is he sincere? _ He looked perfectly happy. And he seemed like he was absolutely serious about leaving; he was already climbing the balcony railing. Which was in no way disappointing in the slightest. 

“Cat, wait!”

_ Who said that? _

_ Oh.  _

“If you want to,” Marinette said, betrayed by her very own self, “you can… you know… hang around while I work. As long as you don’t distract me too much.”

Cat turned back to her, his eyes glowing and his smile blinding. “I’d like that.” 

He followed her down the ladder and into her room. 

“Um, would you like something to… occupy you while I work?” Marinette asked. “Like a book or some paper or…?” 

“Actually,” Cat Noir said, picking up her history textbook from where it lay on her chaise,

“would you mind if I looked at this? I kind of like reading about history,” he added sheepishly. 

“Sure,” Marinette said, picking up her design sketchbook and sitting down at her desk to at least  _ try _ to come up with a new design despite him being there — just  _ sitting _ there, being all  _ Cat Noir _ . 

She glanced back at him, pretending she didn’t see how his eyes quickly dropped back to the book. It was open, strangely enough, to the same chapter that she had been studying earlier that evening. 

_ Oh well, _ Marinette thought, turning back to her sketchbook.  _ At least there’s no way he will  _ ever _ know that I was reading Ladybug/Cat Noir fanfic.  _

* * *

“Hey, Marinette!” Adrien called across the courtyard again. She turned and looked and waved, banging her shin into a bench but not actually falling over it.

As she rushed away, a lovely shade of pink, Adrien thought,  _ Strike twenty-eight. But… maybe progress? _

* * *

Cat Noir sighed happily. “I love that movie!” he said, collapsing backwards onto Marinette’s chaise.

“You’re such a romantic, Cat,” Marinette said, giggling as she turned off the final credits. 

“I am!” he agreed with a grin. “I’m a sucker for love at first sight.” 

Marinette made a dismissive sound. 

“What’s this?” Cat said, sitting up. “A lovely lady who  _ scoffs _ at love at first sight? What kind of teenage girl  _ are _ you?”

“I just don’t think love at first sight really happens,” Marinette replied. “That’s all.” 

“Well, you’re wrong,” Cat said. The silliness of the past few moments wasn’t gone from his voice, but there was an additional note that Marinette couldn’t identify. “I’ll have you know that you are sharing your chaise at this very moment with a man who fell in love at first sight.” 

Marinette cocked an eyebrow at him. 

“Not with you!” Cat added. 

Marinette refused to examine her feelings about that statement. “Who then?”

“I… I don’t want to tell you,” Cat muttered defensively. 

“Okay, fine; you don’t have to,” she said, not feeling resentful at all. “But I believe that you can’t love someone until you know who they are.” 

She thought of Adrien — of his smile, and his sad eyes, and his vulnerability as he confessed to her in the rain that he didn’t really know what he was doing when it came to friendship. A soft smile drifted across her face.

“And you don’t think you can know who someone is in an instant?” Cat challenged, dragging her attention back to him. He must be in a confrontational mood — his face was much closer to hers than she was used to.

“Not just by looking at them,” Marinette said, confident in her case. She was not going to back down. In fact, she was so not backing down that she actually moved a little closer to prove it. 

“Well, I don’t just think you can,” Cat was echoed her movement, shifting further into her personal space. “I know you can. From experience.” 

“Well, it doesn’t work that way for me,” she said. “I need to see someone’s heart before I can love him.” 

Something flashed in Cat’s eyes. They were nose to nose now. 

“Who?” he demanded.

“What?” 

“Whose heart have you seen?” the words, low in tone, sounded as if they were being ripped out of him. 

“None of your business,” Marinette breathed. She couldn’t move. Was he angry?  _ I can’t tell. _

She could feel his breath on her lips, but all she could see was the burning green of his eyes. 

Time slowed down and dragged out until she couldn’t stand it anymore. “Cat…” 

“I have to go,” he said abruptly, pulling away as if he had been burned. In seconds he was up the ladder and gone.

* * *

Adrien tossed and turned in his bed.

_ Ladybug, Ladybug, Ladybug… _

But it was Marinette’s face that kept inserting itself behind his closed eyes. 

The _look_ on her face when she had said that about loving someone when you knew who they were… she hadn’t been thinking about Cat Noir, that was for sure. Whoever he was, she was really into him. It was suddenly as if Cat hadn’t even been in the room. 

He thought he was going to choke on the jealousy. 

And that was so messed up, because what right did he have to be jealous of the  _ jerk _ who made Marinette’s eyes go all soft like that?

None. Zero. Zilch.

Which meant  _ he _ was the jerk. And it sucked, because it didn’t stop him from hating the mystery guy  _ passionately _ .

Who was he? Who had Marinette been thinking about with that expression on her face?

_ Ladybug, Ladybug, Ladybug… _

* * *

“H-hey, Marinette,” said Adrien, putting his bag down on the table and trying to pretend his throat hadn’t tried to close up out of nervousness.

“Oh, hi, Adrien,” Marinette replied.

_ Strike thir— hey, wait a second! _

He looked at her, a 100% not-goofy grin on his face. But his face fell as he realized that she was staring into space and not paying the slightest attention to him or anything else in the classroom. 

She was probably thinking about the mystery guy.

_ Damn it. _

_ Strike thirty-two. _

_ Who _ is  _ he? _

* * *

“Where  _ is _ he?” Marinette asked, pacing. “It’s been a week!”

“Five days,” Tikki corrected her.

“School week.” Marinette glared at her kwami, then sighed and flopped into her desk chair. “I’m sorry, Tikki. I just don’t understand. Out of nowhere he runs off like an akuma’s after him and then he just… doesn’t come back? He’s never gone this long between visits before! What did I do wrong?”

“I don’t think you did anything wrong, Marinette,” Tikki said, patting her arm. 

“Then what  _ happened _ ?” 

“Are you sure you don’t know?” the kwami’s wise eyes searched Marinette’s. 

“I… maybe I made it weird?” Marinette said.

“I don’t think it was just you making it that way,” Tikki said. 

“You think  _ he _ made it weird?” Marinette asked hopefully. That would be better. Easier.

“I think it was both of you,” Tikki replied.

Marinette hid her face in her hands. 

“I don’t know what’s going on, Tikki,” she wailed. “I don’t know what I feel; I don’t know what I want, and I don’t know what he feels or wants either, except he’s in love with someone, and also there’s Adrien, and how am I supposed to figure this out without any  _ clues _ ?”

“There, there,” said the kwami, patting her charge’s shoulder and marvelling at the timelessness of teenage drama. “It will all work out, Marinette. I know it will.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to decide for yourself whether the fanfic Marinette was reading was fluff or smut according to your own preference.


	4. In Which Choices Are Made and Plagg Approves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroes finally talk some things out. Revelations are had (but not _that_ one -- not yet). Adrien is a bad liar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Adrien. Poor, sweet Adrien. 
> 
> And beloved Marinette. How I adore her. 
> 
> This one's long, folks. I hope it won't be a slog. Enjoy!

Cat Noir sat on a cold tile roof three houses from the Dupain-Cheng bakery and tortured himself. 

He stared at Marinette’s window, a light still on behind the curtains, and strained to catch a glimpse of her shadow. Any movement. Anything of her. 

She was so close, just a few roofs away, studying or sketching or reading the Ladyblog. Maybe texting with Alya. Maybe… thinking of him? Or, more likely, thinking of the mystery guy. Maybe she was lying on her bed, staring dreamily out the skylight and humming a little love song to herself…

_ Stop it! _

He missed her so badly.

He didn’t know what was wrong with him. All week, at school, he’d say “hi” to her… but it was  _ hard _ somehow in a way it had never been. His tongue would trip on the words and he’d stutter, or swallow at the wrong time and choke on his words. And he kept  _ blushing _ . Not that he thought she’d noticed, even though she always said “hi” back. And then he’d sit there, trying to think of something,  _ anything _ , to say to her, to start a conversation, and  _ he wouldn’t be able to think of a single thing _ . Or at least, nothing that wouldn’t instantly reveal that he was Cat Noir.

So he sat there, day after day, hyperaware of her sitting just a few feet behind him, taking notes and breathing and  _ being Marinette _ , and suffered because she was  _ right there _ and he couldn’t do anything about it.

And she  _ didn’t even know _ he was sitting right in front of her. 

Cat Noir wasn’t afraid of many things. But he was afraid to tap on Marinette’s skylight. He knew he had pushed the boundaries that they had established, and then he ran away like a coward. And now he was functionally in hiding from facing whatever was going on with them, between them, and he knew that every day that passed made it worse... but he was so scared. 

Scared of what he was just barely starting to admit he was feeling. 

Scared of what that meant for what he had always believed about himself and his feelings for Ladybug.

Scared that his feelings for Marinette were as one-sided as his feelings for Ladybug.

Scared of having to face himself in the mirror if it came to being Marinette’s… something… at night as Cat Noir and pretending he barely knew her as Adrien.

Scared that he would never actually have to cross that particular bridge.

Scared that even if he got up the courage to tap on her skylight, she’d never open it for him again.

* * *

 

It was a stupid idea, he knew it was, but it had been eight days now and he had to do  _ something _ . He needed to know if she wanted him to come back.

_ Only one life left now,  _ he thought with a bitter laugh. Somewhere deep inside him he knew it was ridiculous to think of each day apart from her (school didn’t count) as another one of his metaphorical nine lives lost, but he was  _ suffering _ , damn it, and if he wanted to be a dramatic kitty he’d damn well be one.

_ So there. _

Cat Noir gently laid the yellow daisy on the roof table. She was at dinner now — he had been watching — so there was no way she’d catch him before he could leave. 

And he was going to. Tonight, he would not sit and watch her window. Tonight, he was going to go home and do eight days worth of neglected homework. 

Tomorrow he would come back and see. 

* * *

He wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but when he saw what she had left for him, the message was clear… and so very  _ Marinette _ .

She had set out a saucer of cream.

* * *

The tap came earlier than she thought it would.

_ Maybe he missed me, too. _

Marinette hated waiting, and this waiting tonight — waiting to see if he’d come back and get her message and if he’d actually  _ understand _ it, was the worst. 

She hadn’t been able to concentrate, had barely avoided gnawing her nails off in her nervousness, and had turned in desperation to hand embroidery. As it turned out, following the path marked on the fabric with a repeating pattern of stitches had finally focused her to the point where she could tolerate existing in this limbo of eternal waiting. The busywork occupied her hands and allowed her mind to wander, following a well-worn path. 

Cat Noir was in love with someone. Not her —  _ very explicitly _ not her. So even if she was having  _ feelings _ (and she was pretty well to the point of admitting that she was), it didn’t matter. She wasn’t going to be the kind of girl who tried to convince a guy to like her instead of someone else. 

She wondered if the other girl knew how lucky she was. Marinette could hardly believe she was thinking this about  _ Cat Noir _ , of all people, but there it was. He wasn’t just her capable, reliable partner. He was kind, and sweet, and smart, and vulnerable, and, as much as she hated to admit it, he was funny. She wondered if the girl he loved knew him as Cat Noir or as the boy under the mask — the one she tried not to think about too much. 

She wondered if the other girl loved him back. 

_ She’d better, _ Marinette thought fiercely. 

That’s when the tap came. 

Marinette tossed her embroidery aside and forced herself to climb the ladder rather than scamper up it. Taking a deep breath, she tentatively lifted the skylight.

He was standing at the far end of the balcony, watching her warily. 

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi.”

Marinette climbed out the door, joining him on the roof. “You haven’t been around for a while.”

He wouldn’t meet her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“I thought…”  _ You shouldn’t say this,  _ she told herself, but she did anyway. “I thought maybe you had decided that I wasn’t really that awesome after all.”

“Oh, no, Marinette!” he said, shifting toward her. She had dropped her eyes in embarrassment, but she thought for a moment he was reaching out to touch her. He didn’t, though. “I wanted to come! I just… I thought maybe you wouldn’t want me to. Because I made it... weird again.”

She steeled herself before looking up at him. But her eyes didn’t meet his, because he was looking at his feet.

“I think we both made it weird,” she said, mentally tipping an imaginary hat to Tikki. 

He looked up, and finally their eyes met. Marinette felt a pang run through her chest. He looked hopeful, but so  _ wary _ , like a rabbit trying to decide whether to bolt. Which struck her currently high-strung self as hilarious, as he was dressed as a large predator. She swallowed the nervous giggle and probably even managed to keep the equally nervous grin off her face. 

“I think—” he actually audibly gulped, interrupting himself, which Marinette found frankly adorable, “I think we should probably talk about it. Because now it’s been weird twice.”

Marinette nodded. 

He didn’t say anything; neither did she. The silence stretched out and grew heavy with tension and embarrassment. 

_ He’s going to make me do this, isn’t he? _ Marinette thought, not noticing the determined look on Cat’s face that probably meant he was trying to psych himself up to say something. 

“I… I like you, Cat,” Marinette confessed, hiding her face in her hands. “I’ve tried not to…”

“Because you like someone else,” Cat broke in, a resigned note in his voice. 

 

_ Adrien. _

_ Oh, Adrien. _

Marinette thought about his sweet face. His beautiful green eyes. His kindness, his moments of vulnerability. The little touches of humor he sometimes showed. His wonderful, wonderful smile. 

_ Adrien. _

 

And then she let him go. 

“Oh, that?” she said with careful casualness, wondering vaguely how Cat had even known about it. Did he know her that well? “That’s just a crush. Nothing serious.”

Her eyes slipped up to his again. They were blazing now, hope overcoming the wariness. She couldn’t stand it; it was too intense. She turned away, going to the table where she had set the saucer of cream with shaking hands two hours earlier. She picked it up again now. The cream was gone. 

_ Did he actually  _ drink _ it? Never mind, I don’t want to know. _

“But you,” Marinette said, because though she had finally accepted that “love” was too strong a word for her feelings for Adrien, he was not the only extra party in this mess, “you’re in love with someone.”

“With Ladybug,” Cat Noir said.

Marinette dropped the saucer. 

_ Ladybug? _

_ But that means— _

“But she doesn’t feel that way about me. I’ve tried to pretend it isn’t true for so long, but… I guess I’m tired of lying to myself.”

Marinette didn’t move. 

_ But Ladybug— _

“Marinette?” Cat said. He did touch her now, a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I l-like you, too.”

She turned to him. 

“I… I can’t,” she said. Her mind was reeling, but she knew this one thing to be absolute truth. “Not if you’re thinking about…”

“I don’t, though,” he said, a hand on each shoulder now. “W-when I’m near you, there’s o-only you.”

He was very close now, speaking more to the top of her head than anywhere else.

“Even when I’m not with you, I can’t keep her in my mind anymore.” He whispered it, just loud enough to make sure she heard every word. “It’s you. All I can think about is you. You haunt me, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Marinette had basically stopped functioning. Her mind was still struggling with the Chat-in-love-with-Ladybug thing but she was also trying not to die from mortification from just straight-out  _ telling _ him she liked him but maybe it wasn’t that embarrassing since he said it too and also he was  _ right there _ , touching her and  _ saying those things to her _ — amazing things, unbelieveable things — and also he still  _ smelled really good _ . 

“And right now I’m mostly thinking about kissing you,” Cat added, barely breathing the words. 

There was so much swirling through Marinette at the moment that she might have panicked except that she suddenly noticed that Cat’s face was brilliantly red.

_ This is hard for him, too. _

And so Marinette shoved everything she was thinking and feeling into a mental closet and shut the door, keeping only the thrill that was tracing through her. 

Then she tilted her face up and gently pressed her lips to his.

Explosive wasn’t exactly the word — more like electric. As if all the tension that had been building around them all this time — apparently more than she had noticed — was released all at once, running through her and making her hair stand on end and her body tense. It was followed by a warm, melting sensation that spread from her face downward, buckling her knees. Marinette sagged a bit, but by then Cat’s arms had wrapped around her, holding her steady.

They broke apart. Marinette’s eyes fluttered open and locked to his, which were full to the brim with things she didn’t understand. 

“Wow,” he said. Her eyes dropped and she could feel herself blushing. 

“Hey,” said Cat Noir, tilting her chin up with one finger so she’d look at him again. His other arm was still around her, burning into her back. “Regrets?”

Marinette shook her head. He grinned, a  _ very _ Cat Noir grin — the kind he almost never used around Marinette — and leaned in for another kiss. Instead, he encountered two of her fingers, which pressed gently against his lips, pushing him back just a little. 

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I can’t… not tonight.” 

She was reeling — from the revelations, from his proximity, from the heady effect of that simple, chaste, innocent kiss.

“It’s too much,” she added, trying to explain. “I need time to…”

“Process?” he suggested.

She was afraid he would be angry, but he wasn’t. He just looked concerned and understanding. 

_ He’s such a good person, _ Marinette thought.  _ He’s never cruel or mean or even petty.  _

_ Except when he’s been brainwashed, _ she conceded.  _ But that doesn’t count. _

“Of course,” Cat sighed, letting go and moving away from her. “Whatever you need. But I don’t have to like it, do I?” 

Marinette laughed, a shaky but genuine sound. “I guess not.” 

Cat clasped his hands behind his back. “May I visit you tomorrow, Mademoiselle?” he asked in a cheeky tone that she suspected was hiding some confusing emotions of his own. 

Marinette considered. She wanted to see him tomorrow — in fact, she didn’t actually want him to leave. But she had feelings to sort through and a lost crush to mourn. 

“Can I have two days?” she asked him. “The day after tomorrow?”

“It will be a hard wait,” he said — and she could tell from his face that he really meant it. “But Marinette shall have what she wants.  _ Whatever _ she wants.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her and to her utter  _ horror _ , she tittered in response. 

He dropped a burning kiss on the back of her hand. 

“Two days,” he said, pausing with one foot on the railing. And then he was gone. 

* * *

Marinette lay in bed, staring at the skylight.

_ Chat Noir was in love with Ladybug? Or maybe  _ had been _ in love with Ladybug? _

She hadn’t realized, and she felt  _ so stupid. _

She always thought he was just a flirt. He flirted with Marinette — she assumed he just flirted with all girls. But apparently it was more than that. At least with her, as Ladybug. And, apparently with her, as Marinette. 

Because it really wasn’t entirely clear, but it seemed like maybe Cat Noir had just chosen  _ Marinette _ over Ladybug. And that was… strange. And really, really exciting.

Ladybug was a superhero. She was confident, and clever, and she zipped around Paris saving the day. Marinette  _ understood _ admiring Ladybug. Sometimes she thought she would give anything to be like Ladybug when she wasn’t transformed. Because Marinette was just a girl — sometimes awkward, sometimes dorky, sometimes just straight-out incompetent. When she was Ladybug, she knew exactly what to do, or when she didn’t she figured it out pretty quick. Marinette, on the other hand, was constantly wallowing in indecision and self-doubt. 

And yet somehow Cat Noir maybe possibly probably wanted Marinette instead of Ladybug?

There had only been a few akuma attacks since Marinette had started hanging out with Cat Noir. She hadn’t really noticed anything different between her (as Ladybug) and Cat, but to be honest she had been a little distracted trying to act normal around him. She thought she had done a pretty impressive job. But now that she thought about it, maybe he  _ had _ been less flirty that last time. 

_ Was that because of me? _

She didn’t like this. It felt wrong, like she was lying to him. 

Ladybug had always maintained that they needed to keep their real identities secret from each other. She truly believed it was safer that way, though honestly the more she trusted him the less she cared if he knew who she was. But it was different now. Now, she had been hanging out with him — playing games with him, watching movies with him,  _ kissing him _ — and he didn’t know he was doing those things with Ladybug.

With the girl he loved.

It felt like betrayal. 

And yet it was so lovely to think that he wanted Marinette — just normal, non-superhero Marinette. 

_ I have to tell him.  _

_ But how can I tell him  _ now _? After all this? He’ll be mad that I’ve been leading him on all this time. _

_ And what if I tell him and he’s  _ happy _? _

She knew it didn’t make sense — but she could see it happening in front of her: his eyes lighting up when he realized she wasn’t just Marinette after all. His excitement that he didn’t have to settle for boring old her; he could have a superhero.

_ I’m not being fair to him. _

It was true, but at the same time, she just couldn’t wrap her head around Cat Noir, Paris’ second-greatest superhero, giving up on Ladybug for Marinette. It didn’t make any  _ sense _ .

Marinette moaned and rolled over, burying her face in her pillow. 

She should tell him. But she knew she wouldn’t. 

_ Just let me have a little time. A little time to enjoy being wanted for _ me. 

She wanted to kiss him again.

* * *

A few miles away, Adrien Agreste lay in his oversized bed, curled around a pillow that he clutched to his chest.

On his sleeping face was the same smile that had been there since he left Marinette’s roof. 

Plagg watched over him, munching on cheese, a purr in his secret romantic’s heart for the peacefully sleeping boy.

* * *

“Hi, Marinette!” Adrien said.

“Hi, Adrien,” Marinette replied with a smile. It struck him as sad somehow, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. 

“How are you?” he said bravely ( _ bravely _ seemed a little ridiculous, since he had been kissing her last night, but she didn’t know that and it somehow seemed harder to talk to her nowadays without the mask in between them). 

“I’m good, thanks,” Marinette replied. “How are you?”

“I’m great!” he said. Marinette smiled back. She didn’t seem really interested in further conversation, so he turned back to the front of the room. 

_ It’s better this way, _ he thought.  _ Now that she’s… whatever with Cat Noir, I should be careful as Adrien. I wouldn’t want her feeling conflicted or anything.  _

Feeling rather proud of himself for being a considerate secret… boyfriend, maybe?  _ Nah,  _ he dismissed the idea.  _ Too soon. _ But the very thought sent a thrill through him. 

Feeling rather proud of himself for being a considerate secret whatever, Adrien pulled his little mirror from his bag and positioned it so he could moon over Marinette. It was unusually tough this particular day, though. He always had to adjust occasionally as she shifted in her seat, but today he had a terrible time keeping her in view. It was almost as if she were purposely avoiding being caught in his mirror.

_ Could she…? _

_ Nah.  _

Adrien gave up and spent the rest of the class daydreaming about the feel of her lips on his. 

* * *

Marinette was waiting for him when he arrived on the roof.

It had been a hard two days for her. She was still wrestling with the fact that she wasn’t going to tell Cat that she was Ladybug, at least not yet. She was pretty sure it was the wrong decision, but she was going to do it anyway, and she felt guilty about that.

She was also struggling with the Adrien thing. She hadn’t had to take down his posters from her walls — she had done that as soon as she realized there was a chance Cat Noir would be in her room, and when she realized it would be a regular thing she hadn’t put them back up. The ritual Adrien purge had consisted of moving the small, framed pictures from face-up in her top desk drawer (and the one under her pillow) to face-down in a box in her closet. 

But at school, the real boy was making it hard.

Marinette hadn’t really thought much about it when he started keeping that mirror on his desk — he was a model, after all. And it benefitted her, because for some reason he kept it at an angle that almost always allowed her see his face in it. But these past few days, she hadn’t wanted to see his face. The back of his head was bad enough; looking at his face made her feel guilty, both because she had chosen Cat over him and because she still really liked his face and that felt kind of unfaithful to Cat. So she tried to reposition herself so he wasn’t reflected up at her, but  _ he just kept moving it so she could see him. _ It was frustrating, and to be honest, it felt a little bit like the universe was out to get her — because there was no way that Adrien could have been doing it on purpose.

Marinette regretted asking Cat not to come yesterday. With all the guilt and excitement and the memory of his kiss swirling around inside her, she had found herself wishing desperately for his completely not calming but somehow still comforting presence the night before. But now the wait was over.

_ Finally, _ Marinette thought, her heart speeding up as Cat Noir landed on the roof next to her.

She registered the surprise on his face. She made a point of never looking like she was waiting for him — whether it was to keep his ego from getting out of hand or because she didn’t want to be waiting wasn’t really clear anymore. Marinette was getting better at admitting, at least to herself, that her reasons for things maybe weren’t necessarily what she thought they were at the time. 

But she was sure about why she was waiting tonight. 

“Good evening,” Cat Noir said, making a sweeping bow. 

“Hi, Cat,” Marinette replied shyly. 

The small amount of panache that he had exhausted, he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head and said, “I didn’t bring anything to do…”

“Just planning on kissing all night?” Marinette said, surprised and amused to see the way he jumped, bumped into the table, and turned bright red. 

“No! I mean… if you wanted… but no!” he stammered. 

“Relax, Cat. I’m teasing,” she said, bravely placing a hand on his arm ( _ bravely _ seemed a little ridiculous, since they had kissed two nights ago, but she had been trying so hard not to touch him for so long now that it still seemed a little transgressive to just go ahead and make physical contact like it was nothing).

“Oh, sure. Yeah, clearly,” Cat replied, calming down and fading to pink. He looked at her and she could tell he was thinking about kissing her, but didn’t feel like he could at this particular moment. 

_ Great, Marinette. Good job. _

“I, um… I actually do have something planned,” she said hesitantly. It had seemed like a really great idea yesterday, but now that he was here she was feeling insecure again. 

“Do you?” he said, looking pleased. Maybe relieved. “What is it?”

“Wait here,” Marinette said and disappeared into her room, emerging a few minutes later with a large basket. She set it down, opened it, and began pulling things out. First came a tablecloth, then plates, bowls, silverware, and napkins. She set it up quickly and neatly — she had it all planned out in her head. 

“What—?” Cat asked.

“Remember how you treated me to coffee that time? Well, I thought I’d treat you to d-dinner.”  _ Deep breath. _ “Since it’s kind of like a… a first… date?” 

She hated how she had squeaked and it kind of came out like a question, but there it was. Too late to try again. She knew her cheeks were pink, but she met his eyes anyway. 

He looked  _ delighted _ .

“This is  _ amazing _ , Marinette,” he said, kneeling to help her with the unpacking. “But, um, won’t your parents notice…?”

“Actually,” said Marinette, feeling herself go from pink to red, “my parents are out of town for an overnight business trip — feeling out a possible new supplier.” She looked at Cat and made note of his expression, which was fighting an epic battle between gentlemanly and… not. “That’s why you’re not allowed inside tonight.”

His face fell, but only a little. 

“We’re going to stay out here where it’s mostly private, but not completely,” Marinette said. “After all, you never know when Ladybug might swing by.”

_ I mean, obviously I know, but he doesn’t know that. _

Marinette realized that Cat’s expression had become very serious. 

“Does the Ladybug thing bother you, Marinette?” he asked. 

“No, not really,” she answered without a lot of conviction. 

He sat down abruptly on the lounge chair and leaned on his knees. “I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t know how to convince you that it’s you that I… want to be with.”

She put a hand on his arm. “You don’t have to convince me. I believe you.” It may not have been completely true, but he was her partner — even if he didn’t know it — and she had to give him the benefit of the doubt.

_ For both our sakes. _

Cat put his hand over hers. “Thank you,” he said quietly. Then, with a mischievous glint in his eye, “So I’m not allowed inside tonight, huh? Don’t you trust me, Marinette?”

“Oh, I trust you, Cat,” she replied.  _ Don’t say it don’t say it don’t say it _ “I don’t trust myself.”

_ Damn it. _

_ I am a  _ terrible _ flirt. _

_ As in that was  _ really _ flirty, not that I flirt badly. I actually think that was some pretty good flirting. At least based on the look on Cat’s face right now… _

Chat’s face, which was fast approaching her own, eyes alight. Marinette let out a nervous giggle, expecting to have it cut off by his kiss… but he stopped, his lips mere millimeters from her own.

“Reeeeeeally?” he said, sounding unreasonably proud of himself. 

She waited for him to kiss her, but he didn’t. 

_ Stupid cat, _ she thought. Well, she wasn’t about to kiss him first. Not after that little confession.

This was about willpower now. Who would blink (where blink = kiss) first?

_ Oh, it is  _ on _. _

“Dinner!” she said brightly, ducking back and around him, heading back to the basket. “I made soup.”

“You  _ made _ me dinner?” he asked, a strange note in his voice. Marinette looked at him. He looked kind of shaken, and happy, and… touched?

“It’s just soup,” she said, feeling uncomfortable about what was on his face. She didn’t want to think about what it meant that he looked like the simple act of cooking a meal was the greatest gift he had received in a long time. “I’m not actually a very good cook. I’m better at baking. You know, since my parents are bakers and all...”

Cat took her hands in his. “I am honored,” he said, “and I will savor every bite.”

Marinette blushed. “Here,” she said, handing him a loaf of bread, a bread knife, and a cutting board, “make yourself useful.”   
Between the two of them, it wasn’t long before the little table was set and she was dishing out the distinctly purple soup.

“Is this Marinette Soup?” Cat asked eagerly. “I mean, your uncle’s recipe?”

She looked at him curiously. “You know about that?”

He turned red as his hand drifted to the back of his head. “Oh, yeah… I saw the show where he won. I’ve been wanting to try it ever since.”

“Well, here’s your chance,” Marinette said, handing him a steaming bowl. “Not quite to Cheng Sifu’s level, but it’s not bad.”

_Wow, he looks really excited,_ she thought, amused at the thought of Cat Noir lounging on a sofa and watching _World’s Greatest Chef._ _Though I suppose he wouldn’t be Cat Noir in that situation._ Marinette carefully redirected her thoughts — she didn’t like to think about who Cat was under the mask. It made her nervous for some reason.

She watched as Cat took a sip of the soup and made an (over-the-top, in her opinion) euphoric face.

“You’re wrong, Marinette!” he exclaimed. “It’s just as good as your uncle’s!”

_ What? _

“What?” she said. 

“I m-mean,” he sputtered, “I- oh, g-gosh, it was a secret…”

She arched an eyebrow at him. 

“I… I’m sure you know, I, um, had to help out with the little situation with your uncle… I mean, I k-know you were th-there but I didn’t see you, but w-when he…”

“I’m aware,” Marinette said dryly. She had serious feelings about that day. Between anger that her uncle had been akumatized, guilt that she had played a role in it by pissing off Chloe, and the excitement of all the time she had spent with Adrien, that was probably the attack that she recalled in the most excruciating detail.

“W-well, after everything was o-over, I stuck around for a while… b-because I was… interested in the show! Yeah. And the s-soup smelled so good… I kind of... snuck a bowl from the kitchen. While... the judging was going on.”

Marinette very consciously  _ did not  _ mentally run over the people she had seen in the hotel after Kung Food was defeated, looking for someone who might be Cat Noir.

“Oh. Well,” she said to her strangely guilty-looking companion, “I don’t think it’s that big a deal. After all, you and Ladybug saved my uncle. I think you’d earned a little taste.”

Cat Noir visibly relaxed. 

_ Strange that he bothered to lie about having not having had it before. But I guess I don’t always think secret identity things through, either. It’s tough, having to lie to the people you care about. I should know.  _

* * *

Dinner was comfortable. After dinner was not.

Once the dishes had been carefully packed away so that Marinette could do them later, the pair found themselves perched awkwardly side by side on the lounge chair, unsure of what to say or do. 

“Um,” Cat said. “Do you, um, want to talk…?”

“About what?”

“I don’t know,” he answered. 

_ Oh, great, everything is ruined. We were getting to be such good… friends… and now it’s just awkward and kind of awful. _

“So…”

“So.”

_ I could ask him about his superheroing work. But that would just make him think of Ladybug... _

Marinette turned her body so she was facing him, tucking her knee up onto the chair. “This is really terrible, isn’t it?”

Cat laughed, turning to face her as well. “What is even going on with us?”

“I think maybe neither of us is quite sure how to proceed now that things have... changed.”

“Do you… want to… stop? Like, go back to the way it was… before?” Cat sounded nervous. 

“No,” Marinette answered, her voice low. 

“Okay,” Cat whispered. 

And then somehow they were kissing. 

Marinette was never sure who started it or if it was a simultaneous movement. All that mattered was that the second that their lips touched, every doubt she had disappeared. Every fiber of her being was focused on him. 

* * *

“Tikki, what am I going to  _ do _ ?” wailed Marinette a few hours later. Cat had been a gentleman (mostly) — he had kissed her silly (she kissed him even sillier), but respected the lines she drew. He left her breathless, promising to see her tomorrow. Now the dinner dishes were done and she was back in her room, pacing in agitation.

“What’s wrong, Marinette? It looked like you and Cat Noir had everything pretty well figured out,” the kwami replied. 

“Oh, sure,” the girl replied. “I think the new paradigm is definitely set now.” She flushed just thinking about it, a wave of warmth running through her body. 

“So what’s the problem? Are you overthinking things again?”

“No, no, the thing with Cat is fine,” Marinette said. “But, Tikki…”

“Yes?”

Marinette threw herself down on the chaise. 

“What am I going to tell  _ Alya _ ?”

* * *

Adrien hummed to himself as he got ready for bed.

“Pretty pleased with yourself, aren’t you?” said Plagg, watching him while munching on his beloved cheese. 

“I am, yeah,” said Adrien in a defensive tone, preparing for his kwami’s inevitable response. “Marinette’s amazing.”

“Can’t argue that,” was Plagg’s response. Adrien’s jaw dropped. 

“Wha- who- wha-” he sputtered. He pulled himself together. “Do you  _ like _ Marinette?”

_ That can’t be right. I don’t think Plagg likes anyone. I don’t even think he likes  _ me _. _

“Sure,” the kwami said. “What’s not to like?”

Adrien just gaped. 

“I mean, she’s smart, funny, brave, pretty by your human standards…”

_ Is Plagg actually listing off Marinette’s good points? Did I fall off a building and die on the way home? Because no way this is the real world. _

“...She even likes to do that kissy thing with you. I’ll be frank, kid — she’s probably better than you deserve. You done good.”

“I… I’m having trouble wrapping my mind around this.”

“She reminds me of… someone I used to know,” the kwami started digging in a drawer for another piece of cheese to hide his smirk.

“I… wow,” said Adrien. 

“Yeah. Don’t mess it up, kid.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pro tip for Adrien: If you can see someone's eyes in a mirror, they can see you, too.
> 
> One of the reasons I love Marichat is the idea that a superhero would choose a regular girl over another superhero. I think there's something universally appealing in the idea that someone could look at us and see something so special that someone as awesome as Ladybug would pale in comparison. Apparently I'm a romantic. Could you tell?
> 
> It cracks me up to think that Plagg is a romantic, too, but secretly, because he's got a rep to protect.
> 
> I love reading everybody's comments. It makes me so happy to know that people are enjoying my little story. Thank you all for reading <3


	5. In Which Reality Intrudes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are looking up for our heroes until reality intrudes. Will they find a way to be together once their current situation becomes unworkable?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are at the end already! I've had so much fun sharing this, and I hope you've had fun reading it. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Cat Noir lay with his head in Marinette’s lap, sighing in bliss as she ran her fingers through his hair. 

“Movie’s over,” she said. 

“I’m not asleep,” he answered.

“I know, but I don’t think you’re paying all that much attention.”

“Shows what you know,” said Cat, and proceeded to give her a detailed rundown of the last twenty minutes of the movie. 

_ These have been the best weeks of my life, _ thought Marinette as she listened to her… whatever… derail himself to an analysis of what the ambiguous ending of a certain character might mean. Since she and Cat had stopped pretending that there were only platonic feelings between them, her life had been full of laughter, companionship, and kisses. Only at night, of course, but Marinette didn’t mind. 

“...and then they kissed, and then the credits rolled,” Cat said triumphantly. “See? Got every word.”

“I’m sorry I doubted you, kitty,” Marinette said. “I should have known you’d never miss a word of a romance. Especially one with love at first sight!”

Cat was silent for a moment; then he sat up and turned toward her, taking her hands in his. 

“About that,” he said, seriously (which always made her a little nervous). “I’ve realized that I was wrong.”

“Reeeeeeally?” asked Marinette in a teasing voice. He didn’t smile, though, so she rearranged her face to match his. "Wrong about what, Cat?" 

"About love at first sight. I think you were right — that you have to see someone's heart to really love them." His gaze was almost too intense to stand, but Marinette didn't think she could have broken eye contact even if she had wanted to.  She wondered if she should say something, but she didn't know what. 

"Ladybug…" He began, and her heart sank. But he continued, "I do love her. That will never change. But she's only ever let me have a glimpse of her heart. She's always kept me at a distance. I understand that; it's safer that we don't know too much about each other." 

Marinette swallowed, forcing down her guilt. 

"But you, Marinette… I know your heart. You've let me know it. And that… I'm so grateful for that. It's the greatest gift anyone's ever given me." 

His eyes were glimmering. _ Are those tears? _

"It's why I… I fell in love with you." 

"Oh, Cat," Marinette breathed, and pulled him into her arms. 

He clung to her, speaking into her shoulder. "I'm so in love with you, Marinette. So stupidly, desperately, hopelessly in love with you." 

She pushed him back so she could look him in the face. "Why on earth would you say 'hopelessly'?" She booped him on the nose. "I'm in love with you, too, silly Cat." 

She hadn't realized how tense he was until the tension suddenly left his body. "Marinette," he breathed, gently placing his hands on her face to draw her in for the sweetest, most tender kiss she had ever experienced. 

He pulled back, resting his forehead against hers. 

"I want to show you who I am." His voice trembled. 

"No, Cat," she said. 

"Why not?" 

Marinette winced at the hurt in his voice. She didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell him the truth — that once Cat Noir told her who he was, she'd have to tell him she was Ladybug. And despite — or maybe because of — everything he had just said, she was afraid to do it.  Would he be angry? Would he decide he didn't truly know her? Would he not love her anymore? What if she lost him? 

_ I have to tell him something, though. _

"Is it… Is it because you don't think you can love me without the mask? If I'm not a superhero?" Cat asked. 

"Oh, no," Marinette said. "I know your heart, too, and it's so beautiful. And I don't care that you're a superhero. I care that you're  _ you _ ." 

"Do you think you… won't be attracted to my real face?" 

She couldn't help but be amused by her cocky partner's insecurity. It was so unlike him. 

"Oh, yeah," she said, running her fingers over his face. "You're clearly hiding full-on Quasimodo features under that tiny domino. No, kitty, I'm not worried about that " 

"Then what?" he said, not looking particularly mollified. 

"I… I'm just not ready. It'll change everything, and I want to enjoy this just a little longer first." 

Cat Noir searched her face. She wasn't lying, but she really hoped he couldn't see that she wasn't telling the whole truth either. 

"I guess I understand," he said. "But soon?" 

Marinette nodded. 

"Soon." 

* * *

 

The screams echoed through the streets of Paris. Marinette stared up at the newly-emerged akumatized woman. 

_ Run _ , thought Adrien from the mouth of the alley.  _ Why doesn't she run? _

He wasn't stalking her or anything. But sometimes (okay, most days) he liked to trail behind her as she and Alya walked home after school. It was nice to watch her laughing and chatting with her friend, knowing that in only a few hours, she'd be in his arms, sharing her laughter with him. 

But today she had strolled basically right into the arms of an akuma, and even as Alya ran like a reasonable person, Marinette stood there and gaped as if frozen. 

_ Crap. Crap crap crap. _

"Plagg! Claws out!" he said, and moments later he was dashing towards the love of his life. 

He didn't even slow down, snatching her up and running towards the first alley he saw. Ducking inside, he set Marinette down and grabbed her shoulders. 

"Why didn't you run?" he could hear the fear thrumming through his voice. 

"I… I froze," she answered. 

"You could have been…" He broke off, unable to complete the sentence. 

"But I wasn’t," her hands went to either side of his face. "I'm right here, Cat, and I'm fine."

He couldn't help it; he kissed her, hard, pouring all his fear and relief into her. Her arms twined around his neck, giving comfort back to him. He was so engrossed that he almost didn't hear the footsteps — and when he did, he almost didn't realize their significance. 

He pulled away seconds before the akumatized woman came around the corner, barely in time to put himself between her and Marinette. 

_ Oh, God. She could have seen. _

"Run, Marinette," he shot over his shoulder, and to his great relief, she didn't argue or hesitate — she just ran off down the alley and out the other side. 

Reeling with the significance of what he had done — almost getting caught kissing his civilian girlfriend by an akuma victim, and by extension, Hawkmoth — and almost dizzy with relief that Marinette was safe, Cat Noir turned his attention to defeating the akuma and freeing its victim. His partner would be there soon. 

_ Don't keep me waiting long, Ladybug. _

* * *

 

Cat Noir was very anxious to see Marinette that night. He had to go home after the battle to provide Plagg with the necessary recharge cheese, but as soon as he could he was on his way to the Dupain-Cheng bakery roof. He knew intellectually that she had escaped the akuma unharmed, but he needed to see her, hold her, to convince his heart. 

For a second, after he climbed in the skylight, he thought maybe he was wrong and she was hurt. She was curled around herself in the chaise, and she looked like she was in pain. But when she heard him come in, she uncurled herself and turned to him, and he could see she was fine. Physically, at least — her face was horrible, twisted with emotion. 

“We need to talk,” she said. He moved toward her, but she shifted away to maintain the distance, so he stopped.

_ She hasn’t done that in a really long time. _

“Of course,” he said. “What do you want to talk about?” He knew, of course, and she knew he knew.

“About what happened today. About how we were almost seen.” 

“But we weren’t,” Cat pointed out, knowing that it wasn’t going to be good enough. 

“But we almost were,” Marinette was agitated — upset and maybe angry, he thought. “I’m not stupid, Cat. My best friend runs the Ladyblog. Most of the kids in my class have been akumatized. Hawkmoth can see through his victims’ eyes.  _ He would have seen us. _ ”

“Yes, but it  _ didn’t actually happen _ , Marinette.”

“It’s only a matter of time. It’s going to happen eventually if we go on like this.”

The bottom dropped out of Cat Noir’s stomach and out of his whole world.  _ She can’t be saying what I think she’s saying. _

“You know this isn’t going to work, Cat,” Marinette said. “It’s too dangerous. At some point someone’s going to find out, and next thing you know Hawkmoth will be using me against you.”

_ No. No no no no no no no... _

“I’ll protect you,” he said, desperation rising in his chest. 

“That’s not the point,” Marinette told him. “I know you’d do anything to keep me safe. And that’s the trouble — you’d do  _ anything. _ And you may be okay with that, but I’m not.”

He stared at the floor. She was right. He’d give up his Miraculous to keep her safe. He might even betray Ladybug. The thought made him sick. 

“So that’s it, then?” Cat asked her. “It’s just… over?” 

She nodded, refusing to meet his eyes. Her head was down and he thought she might be crying, but he was afraid to think too hard about it, because if he did then he’d start crying too. 

_ There has to be a way _ , he thought.  _ But she’s right. I have to keep her safe, and dating a superhero is too dangerous… _

_ Wait. _

_ There’s always that option… _

_ She’s not going to like it. _

“Marinette,” Cat said, hope dawning in his chest. “You do love me, don’t you?” 

“You know I do,” she answered. She was definitely crying; he could hear it. “But love isn’t always enough…”

“I mean, do you love all of me? Not just the mask, but the boy behind the mask?” 

She did look at him then, tears streaming down her face. “Are you  _ serious _ ? Of course I do, you stupid cat!”

He grinned — the Cattiest of grins. The Cat that got the cream. He lept to his feet, grabbed Marinette’s hand, and kissed it. 

“Goodbye,” he said, unable to keep a cheerful note out of his voice. She looked confused. “You’ll never see Cat Noir again, unless you happen to be in the vicinity of an akuma attack. I’ll always save you, of course.” He sprang up to her bed, then scampered up the ladder that led to the roof. With one hand already opening the skylight, he turned back to her. Her expression was bemused, slightly outraged, and completely heartbroken. He hated to make her feel that way, even only for a little while, but he couldn’t think of another way.

“I’m going to ask you out tomorrow, Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” he said. “I hope you won’t be disappointed.” And he was gone. 

* * *

 

Marinette wasn’t sure what to think. The Ladybug part of her was really hoping that Cat Noir was not  _ actually  _ going to reveal his secret identity to a girl he believed to be a civilian. Of course,  _ she _ knew that she could be trusted, and she was flattered that Cat thought so too, but for all he loved her, Marinette was just a typical teenager for all he knew. A teenager  _ whose best friend ran the Ladyblog,  _ for God’s sake. He couldn’t have been serious. 

He couldn’t have been serious about never seeing him again, either. No way. Marinette’s chest was tight just thinking about it. Of course she’d see him as Ladybug, but it wasn’t the same. And it wasn’t like she could just try to be with him as Ladybug now — not after all the things that had passed between Cat and Marinette. 

She would have to tell him. Next akuma, she would come clean and they would figure things out. 

But what about this harebrained scheme to ask her out? She chewed her lip, staring unseeing in the general direction of her school desk as she ran over the possibilities of what might happen this afternoon after school let out, when the boy who was under Cat’s mask may or may not come looking for her. She was so distracted, in fact, that she had no idea that someone was standing in front of her until Alya poked her from the seat next to her to get her attention. 

Adrien was standing there, and he was holding a single red rose. 

“Marinette,” he said quietly (though there was no point in being quiet;  _ everyone _ was watching), “Would you let me take you to dinner on Friday?”

She blinked.

_ Figures, _ thought Marinette grumpily.  _ Stupid boy decides to ask me out  _ after _ I’ve completely fallen for stupid Cat Noir.  _ She took a deep breath, trying to formulate a gentle rejection, when the glint of something shiny caught her eye. 

Nestled in the petals of the rose, which Adrien was carefully holding so only she had the right angle to see it, was a tiny gold bell. 

A bell exactly like Cat Noir’s.

Marinette’s eyes went wide and she stopped breathing. She slowly lifted her eyes towards Adrien’s face. As they reached his mouth, the corner of his lips quirked, a movement so small that it was hardly noticeable. Cat’s smirk in miniature. 

She knew those lips. She had spent an awful lot of time kissing those lips.

Her eyes lifted to Adrien’s green, green ones. The same green as Cat’s, if less of it. The same eyes. The same kindness she had always seen, the mischief and humor she hadn’t. How had she never seen it — recognized it? 

_ Let’s be honest, _ some small part of her brain that was not completely in shock said. _ Eye contact with Adrien was never really my strong suite. _

Adrien looked utterly relaxed. He had a perfectly inquisitive smile on wide-open face. He looked like a guy who hadn’t a care in the world — who would be perfectly happy with whatever she answered. But it was a mask, maybe more of a mask than Cat Noir had ever worn, and she could see right through it. He was nervous, and growing more so by the moment. 

Marinette was still trying to wrap her mind around the whole thing. But with each second that ticked by, it made more sense. Things clicked into place. Absences. Things Cat shouldn’t have known, like the names of all the students in her class. The soup. The  _ mirror _ .

_ He was right in front of me the whole time. Literally.  _

Suddenly, she was much less worried about telling him she was Ladybug. All she had to do was wait for the right moment.

Alya poked her again, under the table. Adrien’s eyes pleaded. 

“Oh! Y-yes,” Marinette said. “I’d love to.” And she reached out and took the rose from the hand of the boy she loved, across whose face was dawning a look of relief and joy.

* * *

 

“Adrien,” said Marinette later that day as he walked her home. “About last night…”

“Shhh,” he said, pausing on the sidewalk and turning to her. He placed a finger on her lips. “I didn’t see you last night.”

“Right,” she said. “But we’re going to have to talk sometime.” 

He leaned his forehead against hers, gazing into her eyes. “Not a word,” he breathed, “unless we’re one hundred percent completely alone. The rest of the time, I’m just a boy who loves a girl in his class.” 

A screamed echoed across Paris. 

“Darn it,” Adrien said as Marinette pulled him into an alley. 

She looked at him expectedly. 

“Um. Um… are… do you want to  _ watch? _ ” he asked her, looking extremely uncomfortable. 

Marinette laughed. 

“Maybe some other time, kitty,” she said with a wink. “You may be just a boy who loves a girl in his class, but  _ I _ am a superhero who needs to save Paris, and I have work to do.”

Adrien blinked. 

“Tikki, Spots On!”

Adrien’s jaw dropped. 

“But… but…”

Ladybug set a finger under his chin and gently closed his mouth. Then she dropped a quick kiss on his lips, winked again, and deployed her yoyo. 

“Don’t keep me waiting long, Cat.” 

And she was gone.

Adrien stared after her.

After a moment, he realized that Plagg was rolling around in the air, laughing hysterically.

“You knew the whole time, didn’t you?” he asked. The kwami didn’t answer; he just laughed harder.

“Oh, she’s  _ amazing _ ,” Plagg gasped. “That was  _ perfect _ .”

A smile dawned across the Adrien’s face.

“She  _ is _ amazing, isn’t she?” he said. “I love that girl.” 

He looked after her, heart alight. 

“Plagg, Claws Out.”

He couldn’t keep his lady waiting.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading and for your comments. I'd love to hear what you thought of the ending!
> 
> Check out the next "chapter" for a little alternate ending/outtake.


	6. Outtake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a fun little alternate ending to _Don't Keep Me Waiting Long_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you ever seen Clue?
> 
> I wrote the ending of _Don’t Keep Me Waiting Long_ first, and the rest of the story was always driving toward that end. However, when I was maybe two-thirds of the way through the story, this just popped into my head, and it was too funny not to write. So here’s an alternate ending snippet for you to (I hope) enjoy.
> 
> Please note this piece, being an outtake, has slightly stronger language in a few places than the main story.

Cat Noir lay with his head in Marinette’s lap, sighing in bliss as she ran her fingers through his hair. 

Since he was in a mischievous mood, as he always ways when he was perfectly happy, he decided to tease Marinette a little. 

“You know, I told you mine, but you never told me yours,” he said. 

“Hmm?” Marinette was only half listening.

“Your crush. I told you about my crush on Ladybug, but you never told me the name of your crush,” he clarified. 

“Oh, his name is Adrien,” she said absently. Cat Noir went suddenly tense.

“What?”

“Adrien Agreste. You’ve probably seen his posters around town — he’s a model. He sits in front of me at school.”

Marinette gaped as Cat sat bolt upright.

“Adrien? Adrien! You… you… you should date Adrien! Adrien. Date Adrien! Yes. Adrien!” 

“Cat…?” Marinette said warily, thoroughly bemused. He jumped to his feet and started pacing. 

“It would never work out between us! I’m a superhero, you’re not. It’s doomed from the start. But Adrien! Adrien’s perfect. You should date Adrien. Yes. Yes. Adrien. Date Adrien. Marinette. And Adrien. Adrien!”

“Um… do… do you have a crush on Adrien, too?” Marinette asked, completely lost.

“No! But you should definitely date Adrien.” He giggled, somewhat maniacally. “Hee hee hee… date Adrien. Date Adrien, Marinette!”

“Um,” said Marinette. “I guess I’m… flattered? That you want me to be happy? Even though it sounds like maybe you’re breaking up with me? But, Cat, I’m over Adrien, and besides, I don’t think he even really knows I’m alive except as a classmate.”

Cat suddenly went still, eyes fixed on her face. 

“Oh, yes, I most certainly do, Marinette.”

_ I…? _

And suddenly she saw it. The hair. The eyes. The smile. The build. The  _ smell _ , for God’s sake. 

“ _ You _ ?” she hissed. 

He waved. 

“Date. Adrien.” His grin was  _ epic Cat Noir. _

Pause.

“Fine. If that’s how you feel about it, maybe I will,” said Marinette in an annoyed tone.

“Fine,” her stupid boyfriend said gleefully.

“Fine. And you,” she added. “Why don’t you just go date  _ Ladybug _ ?”

His shit-eating grin didn’t even waver. “No, Marinette,” he said in his best mansplaining tone — the one he always apologized profusely for after using. “ _ Mine _ is funny because I  _ am  _ Adrien. Yours isn’t funny because you’re not Ladybug.”

She cocked her head, maintaining steady eye contact, and let the corner of her mouth quirk in a tiny smile. 

Pause.

Cat Noir went stiff.

“ _ Are you _ ?”

She allowed herself a larger smile as Tikki — bless her impeccable timing — floated from behind Marinette’s back to hover over her shoulder. 

“Sure is,” the kwami said. 

Cat Noir’s jaw hit the floor. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep. I think I'm hilarious. I hope you got a giggle from this, too.


End file.
